WBEN Commentary & Opinion

PEEPS: Love 'Em or Hate 'EM

by Tim Wenger,posted Mar 26 2013 10:27AM

Right from the start, I'll tell you I hate these things.

I can tell you the worst part of the East basket on for me as a kid would be when I got through the chocolate and found the marshmallow peeps at the bottom. Inevitably they'd be stuck to the fake green grass alongside the jellybeans(not much my favorite either) just lying in wait. Maybe my sisters would make a trade?

What is it about Peeps that so many people love? In case you haven't heard, they're now 60 years old, are manufactured just north of Philadelphia and are enjoying a growing success. Why? They're marshmallows coated with colorful crystallized sugar. Yuck.

I married into a Peep family. My wife and sisters-in-law love these things. Around this time of year the Peeps start to show up at the door, dropped off by a thoughtful family member who picked them up on sale. I'll open the freezer and find them sitting next to the ice cream(they're good frozen I'm told). And if I time things right, I may walk in the house when the kids pop the Peeps in the microwave and pull the gooey mess out on a paper plate and devour them. Yes, my kids inherited the taste for Peeps.

60 years and going stronger than ever, I find Peeps to be a "love 'em or hate 'em" proposition. Where do you fit in? And feel free to share how you eat your "Peeps".